Banana – process of canning

Canning is a method of preserving food by first sealing it in air-tight jars, cans or pouches, and then heating it to a temperature that destroys contaminating microorganisms that can either be of health or spoilage concern because of the danger posed by several spore-forming thermo-resistant microorganisms, such as Clostridium botulinum (the causative agent of botulism).

Banana cannot be canned on their own. The more important canned banana products are puree, baby foods, banana slices, and tropical fruit cocktail. Bananas are also canned as pastes, drinks and slices.

Banana can be canned in slices in syrup. Best quality slices are obtainable from fruit at early fruit at an early stage of ripeness. The slices are process in a syrup of 25° Brix with pH of about 4.2 and in some process calcium chloride (o.2%) or calcium lactate (0.5%) are added as firming agent.

Internally lacquered cans with an acid-resisting lacquer and a high internal tin coating mass is recommend as considerable corrosion has been encountered in plain cans.

When canning banana puree, the puree is filled into 30-lb cans with plastic film bag liners, sealed, and stored (2–4◦C). A process to do away with the acidification step involved extruding ripened, chopped bananas, heating to 121◦C by injecting steam, cooling to 2-3◦ C, filling into fiber containers and blast freezing (-20◦ C).
Banana – process of canning 

Manufacturing of banana powder

Banana puree is the first step in banana powder processing. Good quality puree with proper drying produces good quality powder.

Banana powder is made from fully ripe banana pulp. Passage through a colloidal mill converts the pulp into a fine paste.

A 1 or 2% sodium metabisulfite solution is added at this stage to improve the color of the final product or to prevent discoloration.

Both spray and drum drying may be used; however, the latter is more favorable as it allows the recovery of all solids.

In the drum dried method, the moisture content of the pulp is reduced to 8 – 12% and then it is further decreased to 2% by drying at 60 ° C in a tunnel or cabinet dryer.

A typical spray drier can produce 70 kg of powder per hour, giving yields of 8 – 11% of the fresh fruit, but drum drying gives a final yield of about 13% of the fresh fruit.

Banana powder with spray drying
Banana powder is prepared by spray drying of fully ripe banana pulp after adding milk solids at a 10% level. 

Spray drying of food rich in invert sugar is difficult because of their thermoplastic nature, which results in the adherence of the dried matter to the sides of the sprayer and necessities scrubbing.

However, when milk solids are added, spraying becomes easy and the material does not stick to the walls of the sprayer.

The dry powder is highly hygroscopic and is packed in bag-in-box packages. The bags are made from laminated material with moisture barrier layers.
Manufacturing of banana powder